Airplane towing mechanism



Oct. 30, 1945; o. RASOR AIRPLANE TOWING MECHANISM Filed March 25, i952 2 Sheets-Sheet l I /NL/EN 7'0 Oct. 30, 1945. o. RASOR AIRPLANE TOWING MECHANISM Filed March 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g TIT: RNE

and the end of fuel supply conduit in the trailing lane;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation looking toward the coupling device on the fuel supply conduit in the trailing plane;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4, showing one end of the fuel conduit in said trailing plane with the coupling thereon;

Fig. 6. is anend elevation taken in thedirection of arrow 6 in Fig. 9, of the endof the coupling carried by the re'fueling'and' towing con- Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of a towing plane showing elevator mechanism by whichthe-towing.

and refueling connection is held more or less assaoie nection which depends from the towing plane;

I and the propeller if said combat or fighter plane strikes cables of barrage balloons or other devices which would otherwise break the propeller or injure said wing.

steadily beneath the fuselage of the towing plane and said figure illustrates the. manner; in which a connection is made to a trailing plane;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view 'of' the engaging device carried bythe trailing plane, said view being taken substantially ,gn-the line 8-8 Fig. '7, said view also illustrates ;the manner in which the end of the towingand refuelin ,connection is engaged ,by said device and aconnection is made with theend of ;tl' 1e,fuel supply conduit for the trailingplane; and

Fig. 9. is a side elevation of the coupling at theend of the refueling and towing connection. I My invention concerns mechanism by which a towing plane l rnaybe detachably secured to a-trailing plane 2. My inventionhas its greatest use, inmy opinion, when the towing plane is a relatively large multi-motored bombing plane, for example, and the trailingplane is a smaller fighter or pursuit plane. Carried .Within; the fuselage 3 of, the towing plane is arotatable .drum 4 on which a refueling hose and towing cable 5 may be spooled, payed.out and beretracted. In Fig. 2, I have diagrammatically illustrated the said drum as being driven by-a motor 6 operatively connected with saiddrurn by achain 1-. It is to be understood, however, thatsaid motor and chain ar merely illustrative of mea ns, gen--v erally,'by which said drum maybe-selectivelyrotated in either directionor, held atpneposition. Agasoline supply line B is Joined to the refueling hqs a n ap mnfl d iv n. by-a. mot r lfl can control th flow or gasoline thru said supply. line and into said hose. I-also'show acut-ofi valve I l in said supply lineso thatflowthm said l into saidhose may be entirely cut off if it is so desired. I The refueling hose and towing, cable extends down thru an aperture l2 in the floor 3a, ofthe fuselage and extends along or thru a,relative stiff member l3 pivotally secured to the underside of the fuselage. Said stiff member maybe extended normal mule fuselage, as isshown Fig.' 6, being held'by a brace l4, or may belfoldied against the fuselage when not in use to 'eurab'wn wind resistance. The refueling hoseand ttiwin v cable extends about a; guiding'f'roller l5 'atj'the free end of the stiff member I3; 'On the end'of the refueling hose and towin'g cable'i's a'relatively heavy ferrule or male coupling. One end of towing cable 51) is splayed out, leaded or otherwise secured to the center ofsaid-ferrule l6, as is illustrated in Fig 3, soas to-make-a firm connection between said :ferrule and said cable; The. refueling hose, preferably. is cov'eredbyv a metal sheathing I] to protect the exterior there-- of. Said metal sheathing preferably is made" of spirally wound metal, a is. illustrated most.

a clearly in Fig. 'l, andserves tocprotect the-ex- Off the extreme end of said fuel conduit I8 is a ,femaleconnection 2| leading up from the tubular framework l9, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 7. I preferably provide a spiral wire wrap o Spring .22; forsaid u l. con uit. s eerie. give stiffness to said conduit. Secured tolthe end of said fuel conduit isa threadedhoseconnec tion ZSsecured to the fuel conduit by an encoin p i band 24-,

The engagement is made between the ferrule l6 and the female connectingelementjl by a circular flange-Mon the ferrule and a pair of spaced lips 26 on the connecting element l, Said circular flang is joined to the head] 60, of, the ferrule y. e n fia. a d aee .-1 ps.25ere spaced across a distance slightly greater than the diameter of saidneck and definedwithin said lip ,isa space sufficient to'receive the circular flange. 25. Thus, when .the .cireular flangedies behind said lips the flange will engage said lips and longitudinal pull will not separate said devices. This is the position of the parts as 11,- lustrated in Fig. 3. Said parts are-held in this position becausethe onnecting element 2I., is

held in the position shown in Fig. 7 by the spiral wire wrap 22 and the ferrule isheld in position. by being supported by a transverse;Pin2,1,ex

tending transversely of slot 28 in engaginghook 29 carried by the forward end ofthe trailing plane, 2. I Saidhook has -,a slot 28.which is substantially wider than ,the diameterpffihe .l,e-.. fueling hose and towing cable at, itsnioufih, as is shown in Fig. 8, and narrows down to a width substantially the diameter ofsaid refueling hose and towing cable, as is showninsaid figure,

When the parts are arranged in the, positions shown in. Figs. land 8, saidrefuelinghose and towing cable rests on pin Z1 and the parts are then in alinernent. The inner face of. engaging hook engages the outerface llibof ferrule;,l 6. I ov dee e flanges p the; inner acepf the engaging hook 29 toengage theperiphery f h e l h r b o held. a d: ferru e 0 malto the inner face of said 'hook Thatis, th fer-.;

rule Slides oneih i ner ae Q sa in -J 0K 2 as it m vesinto e eeg entu e n zheld Hormel to d. i fi. PS. the. e a emen of. ;.ith.e: guiding flanges?!) about itsperi hery It noves, into the slot untiluiet sverse pin, 21 en a es. the refueling hose and towing cable- 5. and;when said ferrule is in this position thecircularflange 25 is held by the spaced lips 26 on thefuel cone; duitlB. v s g Fuel can then flowalong the refueling ,hos'eia: into chamber 16c within the; ferrule andflpass. thru port 3|. A ball check valve 32overliesuport- 3| and prevents flow of fluid thru said por t' u;n"-- less sufficient pressure is appliedto the fuel in refueling hose 5!: to overcome the tension-of'coil" spring 33 check valve. The cisrsolar W 25 audits 'ziamreterably are mratafromthaferrule iii so .as to permit said hath checlmzalveand said to be replaced. Bold neckltzfiachas a, passageway libuextending film lit to thfilallifil' race of said 'circular flange.

relementzl has a washer 3!:seated thenemtiwhich lnnrmallyieis distended to the padtionuhown iniFig. a bye. circular spring iillxinglhehind it. Said. washer and .said spring are: oompoessed when the'fiange 25 is engaged bylipsliandsaid .washer 36 and spring 35 thus provide a tight oint .b etween the. circular flange and the connecting element 2|.

A .mssagexvay 36 in said connecting element llJn'mss-the central aperture :imwasherifl with a'chamberfl within said. connecting element-and eltazda'ngucto the end of threadedvhose connections: lspringuclosed flapper valve 38 nor-- mall? Giles iacmss the race .or passageway 35, z'hut may be-tswunginto horizontal position along an my dottedA-l-ines in Figi 3, when fuel pooses trom the right towards the left thr-u said passageway-36. When luel is not passing, however, said flapper valve moves underthe urging ofgszid spring to -the position shown in Fig. 3.. Said flapper valve prevents fuel from flowing towards-the right :fromdueloonduit Ill at all times; This prevents leakage of fuel from said fuel conduit-it whenthe connecting element 2| isdise'ngaged-from the ferrule 18. The-ball check vo'llvefi'lfperforms a similar function in the ierrule -to prevent gasoline from leaking out of the refueling hoselia thru the passageways in the'qerrulef when said parts come out of engageit i-s desired to 'produceuncoupling of the "refueling hose it and towing cable 5 from-the -hook 29ypin 21 is moved towards the rlg'htfasviewed inFig. 8, bybell crank lever. tr saidhook tends to cause the ferrule to bdnioved-down saidslopeto disconnect its .circularfiange "from the spaced lips 26 and to niwv'e-out1irito 'alinementwith the larger diamtered aperture 4tthru which said ferrule can be pulledendwise. Thatis,"the slot '28 and aperture M together form virtually akeyhole slot. 'Ifhe" slot wllrpass the refueling hose and towing cablebutfwill retain the "ferrule while the aperture Mlwill' pass both the refueling hose and towable and said ferrule to produce disengage- !neritbf' said parts. Saldbell crank lever may be actuated by a pullcord'll whichleads along or thru one of'the members constituting the lending or shearing guard forfthe'trall'ing plane. One end of said pullfcord may thus be arranged adjacent the cqe sitor the'tralling plane. A spring 42 tends normally to hold said pin transversely of the slot 28-and thus iorms a bottom for the slot. Said pin willberetracted from said slot only when tension is applied to said pull cord. f'lheopration of my device is as follows: The refueling hose and towing cable may be used to tow; snarling plane for anyedistance desired. Iii'is tojbeunde rstood, alsoQtha't more than one 6f said devicesmay bearranged upon a towing blane so thatmore than one trailing plane can be conveniently accommodated. If trailing nlanesare to be towed for any substantial distancalitfis-rnyiopinion that greatest efiiciency may'..he..attained by supplying only suflicient fuel to the engine or the trailing plane, to maintain 33 i n QL The majority of thetracq tlon givenuito the trailer plane. would thus be supplied the towingplane thruthe towing long flights are to be. accomplished with the devices secured in this mannenflthen fuel mayho supplied periodically thru the; refueling-hose .5a to the supphrytanks inxthetraili-ng plane when said supply tanks hecomepdeplated. It. may be desirable .only thatsaid parts be connected, :as shown in 7. during actual refueling. operations. I .deem it .adesirahlcthat the refueling and towing cable v5. :beadrawn up relatively short xbelowthe freeend. of. the stilt member 13 when the planes are tolbeengaged; .I .deemtthispreferable because .in this position-the.:fernu1ezon the end-of the refueling hose and towing. cable will :notswing so Widely as itwould be .ifla greaterlength of isaidrefueling hose and towing cable were unsupportedand hanging suspended. .When the .planes are :disconnected and the refueling hose andtowing cable is thus arranged .atrailingplane can more underneath th towing-plane .i until the ferrule :on the refueling hose and towing cahle lies just 1 rearwardly of the engaging hook .323. L'Then: if the trailing :plane increases its elevation slightly and then drops Eback the ferrule '15 will .he;eng-aged by the .slot. in the engaging hook and will move "down .along the sides .of said slot the refueling hose and towingcahle engages transverse pin .12]; .The .parts will then be engaged, as is shown "in Fig. 7, and adapted either for towing, with or without refueling- 1 When the ferrule slides down the inner'iace' of said engaging hook 29 the. circular .ilange 25. .on

the ferrule will slide hetween theispaced.

26 on the fuel conduit and anefiicientmonnection will be made so as to permit fuel to flow from the refuelinghose 5a to the fuel conduit 18. Thenwhen it is desired to disconnect said. planes, that is. disconnect the engaging hook from the ferrule 1-6 on the refueling hose andtowing cable, this may be accomplished by pulling the cord AI and retracting the pin 2'! from the slot .23 in the engaging hook 29 and the ferrule will move downwardly along the inclined face of the hook and pass endwise thru the larger diametered aperture therein. I deem-itpreierable thatrefueling and towing be done with asubstantial length of said refueling hose and towingcable lyingbeyoud the guidinguroller [5 on .the stiff member l3. When. a substantial length or said refueling hose andstowing caible doesextendbeyond the guiding roller-l5, the hose andicable will trail out rearwardly of the towing plane to an angle somewhat as shown in Fig. '7. The parts thus arranged provide suflicient slope .so that fuelfiows freely thru-the hosefid and yet the parts are securely-engaged but areada-pted for disengagement when the pin is retracted from the slot in'the-engaging hook.

Altho I have shown a refueling hose5a in connection with towing cable. 512 I. wish'it understood that the detaching mechanism is equally-adapted to 1 promote engagement and disengagement of two planes or other vehicles when there isto gbe norefueling operationrperiormed. It is likewise true that it is not essential, altho I deem it desirable, that a towing cable be. associated with the. refueling hose. Afabric hose has substantialtensile. strength and will. resist a certainamount .of towing .lstrainpandthus I do notdeemitnecessary that a towing .cable beprovidedwalthojn the majority .of cases lbelieve that asteel. cable ismost .eflicient per unit :of. length. to perform this function. I consider this truenot only with regard to strength, but also with regard to selection of eflicient section and weight per unit of length. W Itis to be noted that when the refueling hose is connected to the fuel conduit l8, as is shown in Fig. 8, that. the parts .extendat quite an ob-.- lique angle and thus. any'amount of .fuel which liesexteriorly of the ball check valve. will flow into the passageway 36 and past the spring closed flapper valve. The spring for said flapper valve is preferably made quite weak so that said fuel will flow readily past said valve even tho just standing above it. Said flapper valve however, will prevent fuel from flowing upwardly; that is, towards the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, orupwardly, as viewed in Fig. 7. Thus, there can be no actual spillage of fuel when the parts are disconnected which would be a severe hazard. The ball check valve 32 and the flapper valve are arranged very close together so as to, minimize the capacity of the passageways lying between said two members. It may be desirable in some cases that said flapper valve may be made of rubber or other inherently elastic material to permit seepage, but to prevent said fuel from backing up- .I consider this feature of my invention to be quite important because if there were any spillage of gasoline in refueling operation, the gasoline might be thrown upon the propeller and'would be a potential if not any actual hazard in each case. r

I claim:

1. .In towing connections of the character described for releasably securing a towing airplane toa trailing airplane, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to said towing airplane and having an enlarged head on-the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, a hook-like device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, said device having a key-hole slot formed therein,

conduit, 2. flexible combined towing and refuel ing hose secured at one end to said towing airplane and having an enlarged head on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, an engaging .device on. said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage the enlargedhead on said flexible hose, and a hose connection, one-half being arranged. upon said head and the other half upon the fuelconduit of said trailing airplane, said hose connec-. tion including means for automatically coupling when said head is engaged by said device, said hose connection engaging and disengaging auto,-v matically under lateral shift of the parts. thereof.

5. In towing connections of the character de:

scribed for releasably securing a towing air plane to a trailing airplane, the latter having a fuel conduit, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to saidtowing airplane and having an enlarged head on the free'end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, an engaging device 0 said trailing airplane adapted releasably to en'- the narrower portions thereof being proportioned to pass said hosebut to retain said head, and a retractable member associated with said slot to restrict the movement of said head with respect tosaid slot'whensaid head is engaged by said device. a

2. In towing connections of the character described for releasably securing a towing airplane to a trailing airplane, a flexible combined towin and refueling hose'secured at one end tosaid towing airplane and having an enlarged head on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, a hook-like device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, said device having a key-hole slotformed therein, the narrower portions thereof being proportioned to pass said hose but to retain said head, and a retractable pin extending across said slot to restrict the movement of said head with respect to said slot when said head is engaged by said device. 7 V

3. In towing connections of the character'described for releasably securing a towing airplane to a trailing airplane, the latter having a fuel conduit, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to said towing airplane and having an enlarged head on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, an. engaging device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage gage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, and a;hose connection, one-half being arranged upon said head and the other half upon the fuel conduit of said trailing airplane, said hose connec: tion including means for automatically coupling when said head is engaged bysaid device, said hose connection comprising a necked flange upon one of said halves and a lipped engaging device on the other half said parts being shiftedQsid'eE wise into and out of engagement with each other.

6. In towing connections of the characte'r de:

scribed for releasably securing a towing airplane V to a trailing airplane, the latter-having a fuel conduit, a flexible combined towing and'refuel ing hose secured at one end to said towing air! plane'and having an enlarged head-on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, an engaging device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage: the enlarged head on said flexible hose, and a hose connection, one-half. being arrangedupon said head and the other half upon the fuel con: duit of said trailing airplane, said hose connection including means for automatically conf pling when said head is engaged bysaiddevice, and guides upon said device for slidably engag ing the sides of said head for directing thehos'e connection halves into mutual engagement. 1

7; In towing connections of the character described for releasably securing a'towing airplane to a trailing airplane, the latter having a fuel conduit, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to said towing air plane and having an enlarged head onthe free end of said hose adapted to be engaged by said trailing airplane, an engaging device on said trailing airplane adapted releasagly to' engage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, anda hoseconnection, one-half being arrangedl'upon said head and the other half upon the magma: duit of said trailing airplane, and check valves in saidrefueling hose and said fuel conduit/respectively. arranged adjacent the line of separation of said hose connection halves to limit the capacity of said hose connections lying adjacent said line of separation of said hose connection halves.

8. In towing connections of the character described for releasably securing a towing airplane to a trailing airplane, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to said towing airplane and having an enlarg d head on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged in flight by said trailing airplane, a stifi member secured to said towing airplane engaging said flexible hose and being adjusted laterally of said towing airplane to steady said flexible hose, thus to facilitate engagement of the enlarged head on the free end of said hose by said trailing airplane, and an engaging device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, and to make fluid connection therewith.

9. In towing connections of the character described for releasably securing a towing airplane to a trailing airplane, the latter having a fuel conduit, a flexible combined towing and refueling hose secured at one end to said towing airplane and having an enlarged head on the free end of said hose adapted to be engaged in flight by said trailing airplane, an engaging device on said trailing airplane adapted releasably to engage the enlarged head on said flexible hose, a retractable member associated with said slot to restrict the movement of said head with respect to said slot when said head is engaged by said device, and a hose connection, one-half being arranged upon said head and the other half upon the fuel conduit of said trailing airplane, and means on said hose connection automatically coupling when said head is engaged by said device.

ORVAL RASOR. 

